E-Cigarette reviews for the rest of us

Ripe Vapes E-Liquid Review

Have you heard of Ripe Vapes e-liquid yet? If you haven’t, allow me to introduce you to one of the most interesting e-liquid companies that I’ve discovered so far this year.

I initially found out about Ripe Vapes by reading about VCT Private Reserve, a vanilla/custard/tobacco blend. I was aware of the VCT e-liquid for some time, but this year Ripe Vapes began to do something different with it: They’re aging it for 90 days in oak barrels. Although aging e-liquid in barrels isn’t a new technique, it’s a special thing in this case because VCT was already a very popular e-liquid. I contacted Ripe Vapes to inquire about review samples. Within a few days, I had every Ripe Vapes e-liquid at my door.

Buy Ripe Vapes E-Liquid

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About Ripe Vapes E-Liquid

Did I mention that I received every Ripe Vapes e-liquid? Actually, they didn’t send the VCT Private Reserve. Shucks. The e-liquids that I did receive, though, were really good. Ripe Vapes e-liquid is ideal for people who like their e-liquids very sweet and full of flavor.

Although I’ve tried sweeter e-liquids than Ripe Vapes before, I haven’t tried many that use more flavor. I reviewed Ripe Vapes e-liquid using a sub-ohm setup — primarily the Halo Reactor mod and the iJoy Tornado Nano tank. I really think that Ripe Vapes e-liquid would shine on devices that produce less vapor, though, because the e-liquids are so full of flavor. Full, fruity — hey! — Ripe Vapes is a pretty appropriate name, isn’t it?

Ripe Vapes is a California company that opened up shop in 2013. Most Ripe Vapes e-liquids use a 75/25 VG/PG blend. Ripe Vapes uses a combination of natural and artificial flavors, and their VG and PG are Kosher. The e-liquids ship in glass bottles with dropper tops.

Ripe Vapes E-Liquid Flavors

At the time of writing, there are eight Ripe Vapes e-liquid flavors in all. These are:

VCT: Vanilla, custard and tobacco.

VCT Private Reserve: VCT aged for 90 days in French oak barrels.

Strawberry Crème Brulée: As described in the name.

Pear Almond: As described in the name.

Monkey Snack: Peanut butter and banana.

Key Lime Cookie: Lime and sugar or shortbread cookie.

Honeysuckle Apple Crisp: As described in the name.

Coconut Thai: Lemongrass, Thai basil and coconut.

Ripe Vapes E-Liquid Review

Ripe Vapes leans heavily on fruity flavors in creating its e-liquids — and they’ve done a really good job with them. Fruity e-liquids are, of course, some of the most popular flavors around. I’ve found, though, that it’s difficult to create a fruity e-liquid with a pleasing flavor without the final product tasting like candy.

The “candy” notes in e-liquid tend to come from artificial flavors. Use too many natural flavors, though, and an e-liquid won’t end up tasting like the real thing because a natural extract only captures a small portion of the original food’s flavor.

Ripe Vapes straddles the line, and the results are often delicious.

The Best Ripe Vapes E-Liquids

Monkey Snack

Ripe Vapes e-liquids are very sweet, but nothing really comes across as overbearing except possibly Monkey Snack — which is understandable. The combination of peanut butter and banana is extremely sweet. Monkey Snack is an incredibly delicious flavor, don’t get me wrong — I just tend to switch to something else after finishing a tank because I feel like I’ve just eaten a dessert.

Pear Almond

Out of the entire Ripe Vapes e-liquid line, I’d have to say that my favorite is Pear Almond. I’ve always found the scent of almond extract very seductive. Pear Almond contains more almond flavor than probably any other e-liquid that I’ve tried to date. The pear flavor is also delicious; it doesn’t taste like a real pear, but it doesn’t taste like a Jelly Belly either.

The color of the Ripe Vapes Pear Almond e-liquid is absolutely beautiful, by the way. It’s slightly pink and not entirely transparent. I’ve never seen anything exactly like it.

Honeysuckle Apple Crisp

I’ve been seeing a lot of floral notes in e-liquids recently. I think that’s a really good development. It’s not like floral e-liquids are ever going to become more popular than fruity, custard and cereal e-liquids, but it’s nice to see new trends. The floral mix takes a back seat to the apple flavor here, but the two notes blend together really well to create something that’s — again — not quite like real apple, but not quite like candy, either. If you’re tired of apple e-liquids with very strong “green apple” notes, you’ll find Honeysuckle Apple Crisp refreshingly different.

Strawberry Crème Brulée

Good combination of strawberry and cream flavors. Very tasty. This doesn’t taste like any other strawberry and cream e-liquid that I’ve tried in the past. It’s very good. I don’t think I’d buy it, but I have yet to find an e-liquid with this flavor profile that I would buy. If you like strawberry and cream e-liquids, do try this one.

Other Ripe Vapes E-Liquids

I enjoyed every Ripe Vapes e-liquid except one: Coconut Thai. I absolutely love Thai food and this combination of lemongrass, Thai basil and coconut tastes surprisingly authentic. In practice, though, I guess that I don’t enjoy vaping these flavors as much as I enjoy eating them. I also didn’t take into account the fact that Thai flavors don’t taste quite like the real thing without sweet, salty and spicy elements. That being said, I applaud Ripe Vapes for creating something entirely unique with this flavor.

With Key Lime Cookie, Ripe Vapes did a good job of using lime flavor without ending up with an e-liquid containing overly strong “furniture polish” notes. I taste a bit of furniture polish in just about every citrus e-liquid that I try, but this e-liquid does a good job of minimizing those notes. I find the “cookie” note is kind of a background flavor. It’s a little difficult to taste.

That leaves VCT, the seventh flavor in my Ripe Vapes review kit. I found it tasty but a little unremarkable. I’ve tried other tobacco/custard flavors before, and this one didn’t taste too different from the rest in my opinion. It’s a very enjoyable flavor, but if you’ve had another tobacco/custard flavor before, you’ll probably find the flavor of VCT familiar. I taste vanilla first in this e-liquid, then custard, and finally tobacco. The overall flavor profile is very sweet. I can’t comment on the differences in the VCT Private Reserve flavor, as I didn’t receive that one.

Ripe Vapes E-Liquid Review: The Bottom Line

The term “premium” gets thrown around a lot when people discuss e-liquids. I think it’s definitely fair to call Ripe Vapes a premium e-liquid line, though. It seems likely to me that they auditioned flavors from many different makers when creating their flavor profiles, because I taste some familiar flavors in their collection and some that are new to me. I also don’t think it’s possible that any one flavor maker could have so many fruity flavors that straddle the line between “too flat” and “too candy-like” so deftly.

What defines a premium e-liquid in your mind? Personally, I would say that the old style of e-liquid maker that simply buys one of everything from one flavor manufacturer, squirts a dash of one flavor into each bottle of e-liquid and calls it a day is quickly becoming a thing of the past.

Next, you have the type of e-liquid maker that uses only one or two flavor suppliers but tries to come up with combinations that highlight the strengths of those flavors. I’m sure you can think of an e-liquid company or two fitting that description.

When I think of a premium e-liquid company, I think of a company that begins with the desired flavor profile and then auditions individual flavors from many different companies — maybe even creating some flavors in-house — before arriving at a final product. I have no idea if that’s what Ripe Vapes does when creating a new e-liquid, but that’s what the products taste like to me. If that’s not premium, I don’t know what is.

Ripe Vapes E-Liquid Review: The Pros

Fruity flavors straddle the line between “too flat” and “too candy-like,” hitting a happy medium

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About Vapegrl

Hi, I'm Vapegrl and this is my e-cigarette review website. I started e-smoking four years ago to rid myself of a nasty tobacco habit, and since then I've tried just about every e-cigarette and e-liquid I could find in the never-ending search for the perfect vape. Now I'd like to pass on some of the things I've learned. I hope you enjoy my e-cigarette reviews and guide.